Business Law Case Study

You are the licensee of an inner city tapas restaurant with an ‘on licence' permit. Your clientele is mainly young professionals. One particular client, Larry, has become a problem. Larry comes in regularly on Friday night and appears to have an addiction to sangria and an aversion to Spanish food. The consequence is that he becomes drunk very quickly and often argumentative with both staff and other customers. As a result, your clients are dropping off.

Part A - What are your rights and obligations in relation to Larry, your staff and other clients?

It gets worse, one Friday night, Larry leaves the restaurant. Staffs have observed him to be slurring his speech, spilling sangria over the table cloth and stumbling when he gets out of his chair. They watch him leave, but unknown to them, he walks down a side lane to the back of the restaurant to use an old, unused toilet, situated at the back of the premises. The door of the toilet has a lock but it is has rusted and is unusable. While using the toilet, Larry leans on the wall which collapses, leaving Larry seriously injured.

Part B - As the licensee are you liable for Larry's injuries? In your answer consider - negligence, vicarious liability and occupier's liability and the Wrongs Act 1958.